Gas vs Electric on small mills

[K-Guy]

I see on some of the small mills they have gas, or electric motor options. How do the electric ones compare?

[JoshNZ]

Linear torque, more power for weight, no need for a clutch, quieter...

I'd say electric would win every time if you have a power outlet to suck on close by! That's the big drawback

[muggs]

Will the mill be stationary or mobile

[sawguy21]

If you are stationary and have an adequate power supply electric would be the winner. Smooth, quiet, instant start up and minimal maintenance. If you are mobile gas or diesel becomes practical unless your customers have hookup which is unlikely.

[K-Guy]

I'm just curious about which is actually better not theoretically better.

[btulloh]

Electric is better. That's why diesel locomotives are driven by electric motors powered by a diesel generator. 

[muggs]

You can figure 1 hp electric is equal to 2hp gas.No refueling, No oil or filter changes, less moving parts to wear out. Quiet, you can run inside a  building. It will cost much less per hour to run. What is there not to like?   8)

[wisconsitom]

If/when I'm able to procure a mill, it will be electrically powered.  My plan is for a stationary installation on my site, such that I can make use of materials growing right on that site.  I really like the concept of an electrically-powered bandsaw mill.  And yes, in Europe, these items are much more commonplace than here in N. America.

[Don P]

Prius battery pack and you've got a cordless bandmill ???

[Cruiser_79]

Maybe you can take an electric mill, and a diesel driven generator set for when you want to go mobile. Diesel generators aren't that expensive and you can drop them 50 yards from your work site. No diesel/gas fumes and quite. That's what I want to do if I ever decide to get a mill. 

[Crusarius]

initial purchase price of a good electric motor hurts. But the benefits more than makeup for it. If I wasn't portable I would go electric.

I would get an electric snowmobile if I could get enough range out of it to make me happy. I hate listening to loud engines. Really hate loud exhaust, except in certain applications like drag racing.

[SawyerTed]

A Wood-mizer LT 40 Super Hydraulic is spec'd with a 25 hp 230/460 3 phase motor.  Wonder what a generator would cost to power that?  This idea is interesting to me as I'm soon going to be at the point of upgrade if business continues as it is.

[Southside]

Last night I was looking at bio mass gen sets, feed stock is dry chips, output is hot water and 30KW of 3 phase. 

I am going to do some more research on it as a multi head re-saw is in my future next year and a solution that uses my waste to power it is appealing, could tie in the edger, kiln, and such in the future too. 

[Old Greenhorn]

This is interesting Southside. I did a quick search after reading your post. Not sure what brand you are looking at, but based on the prices I did see, it's a pretty fair investment. I look forward to hearing of your progress on this. You run a solid business, so I am curious to learn what you decide.

[Escavader]

We came to the conclusion,i wouldnt have to deal with gas,oil,maintanance ,battery ,cold weather starts etc.we have 3 phase any way so webought electric.i love it.never fades even in wide cuts.
 I still do use the clutch though,id bet its cheaper on the power bill not starting and stopping all the time

[Nebraska]

Twenty years ago more or less  after we bought our little 40 acre headache, I had the power company discontinue the three phase service, it was a 20 or 30.00$ hickey on the electric bill every month and we had no use for it and needed every nickel.  The more time I spend around here  the more I wonder if i should bring it  back. The wire is still up, just needs another transformer on the pole, except I know the power district is really proud of them, so I better really need it if I decide to put it back. It sure seems like the best prices on used equipment are all on 3 phase stuff...

[tmbrcruiser]

I have an electric mill and edger can't imagine running diesel or gas. I also hunt using an electric golf cart to get around the farm.

[Don P]

Jim, there was/is one at Brooks Lab at VT. I think it is one of the All Power Labs, Power Pallets. I like the idea but it's another babysitting project, you'd about have to start a commune to really close the loop and then there'd be the whole ax murder problem to deal with :D

[Southside]

It's the big brother to that machine I was looking at, or maybe the double unit they have.  For me the options I see would be to buy a generator and feed it fuel, so probably $7,500 - $10K for the unit then feed it fuel, at the current price of fuel I would guess it would be at $300 / week, it sure won't go down over time, so that comes to $15K / year, of course I won't be using all the KW it could produce all the time so the efficiency drops off, end of year one I have spent in the $20K plus range.  Option 2 would be to have the local co-op run in three phase, but last time I looked into that I would be into the same $$ just to get them to run the lines, and then pay them every month for juice, demand, taxes, etc.  Maybe that costs less per month since I am only paying for what I am using, and at the end of year one I am at $15K minimum, and it will only go up.  So option 3 - spend $30K, use my own waste to produce my own power, the ash goes on the fields, use the waste heat that comes off of it in the kiln, put the green house into production mode, and if there is heat still to be used it goes to the house and maybe even a couple fish rearing ponds, my waste makes money two times over, and I don't care what Dominion does.  Best part is when a tree service drops off chips or junk it's like they filled up my tank.  

The hardest part of the whole thing is finding help to deal with increased production.   

[Don P]

And sell them your excess power, not much but another help.

[Southside]

But that gets into regulatory stuff, and Big D don't like competition, better to stay clear of the radar.  

[Don P]

That's an easy assumption but it's really no different than grid tying a solar setup. There is interconnect equipment cost but most of the regulation is at their end to make sure they are being somewhat fair to the small producer. The analogy I've used with homeowners considering whether to grid tie panels or not is that we can produce power for ourselves and waste the excess or we can put that into the grid to be used by a neighbor. As with many things there are no perfect or correct answers to that one.

[Southside]

I agree, but grid tied solar was pushed onto them by the Legislature, not because they welcomed outside producers. I would look into it. 

[YellowHammer]

What is the quantity of dry fiber the gen set needs per hour or day?  Is there something you can do with the green sawmill waste, such as mix it with dry for the feedstock, or is there a dryness spec?

It's an interesting idea.

[Southside]

There is a size and MC spec, green sawdust won't work, not sure about shavings, but let your edgings and slab air dry (I am thinking field pile not going to sticker it) then run them through a drum chipper and they good to go.  There are outdoor "coal" burners that will consume green sawdust and shavings so that would be an additional hot water source potential as well.